Convertible furniture



April 22, 1969 R. E. WRIGHT 3,439,951

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Filed April 27, 1967 sheet 0112 INVENTOR REGINALD E. RIGHT FIGA. 7

April 22, 1969 R. E. WRIGHT 3,439,951

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Filed April 27, 1967 sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR RESL EVRIGHT BY t ATTORNEY United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 297--7 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Two or more chairs are fastened together to form a cot or other article of furniture. The furniture can readily be reconverted to chairs as desired.

This invention relates to convertible furniture particularly furniture which converts to one or more smaller pieces of furniture.

For reasons of economy and compactness convertible furniture has wide appeal in the marketplace. A sofa which converts to a bed is a well known example of this type of furniture. The present invention provides another, a convertible article of furniture comprising chair bodies having seats or seat bases and backs, said chair bodies positioned to face one another with the backs remote from one another and the fronts of the seats adjacent one another and one or more side members extending between the backs to form one or more sides for said furniture.

Preferably the seats or seat bases extend horizontally whereby to form a planar base for the articles such as, for example, a cot, a crib or a couch.

The article can have several pair of legs, two pairs attached to each chair body or two pairs of legs, one pair attached to each of two chair bodies. The legs can be attached to the chair bodies directly or indirectly i.e. to a base member extending below the bases of both bodies.

There can be means to attach together the chair bodies which means can comprise straps, latches and the like, attached to the seat or seat bases of the bodies.

The side members are preferably attached to the backs by pin and socket connections. Other attachments can be used.

There is preferably locking means to prevent accidental disengagement of the connections.

The fronts of the seats or seat bases preferably abut one another where only two chair bodies are used and there is engaging means on the two fronts t prevent relative movement of the chair bodies in a direction parallel to the planes of the backs.

The invention also includes a chair or chair body for use in forming an article of furniture as just described.

A specific example of a childs cot embodying the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cot,

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary section showing the engagement of an upper end of a side member and a back,

FIGURE 3 is a section of the upper end on the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2, looking in the direction of the arrows,

FIGURE 4 is a section through a strap engaged with a body,

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a strap taken on line 5--5 looking in the direction of the arrows,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of a seat base, and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary section through the lower skin of a seat base showing the attachment of a leg to the base.

3,439,951 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 ice The childs cot comprises two chair bodies 10 and 11 facing one another. Each chair body comprises a seat base 12 and a back 13 and each is moulded from rigid polyethylene or polypropylene. Each body is hollow `and there are five cut-outs 14 drilled in each seat base.

Attached to the lower skin of each seat base there are four legs 16. Each leg is attached to the skin as shown in FIGURE 7. The skin is thickened in the region of the leg and two identical metal pressings 17 and 18 are positioned one on each side of the skin. Each pressing has nibs 18 which enter into and grip the skin. There is a hole 19 through each of the pressings and there is an aligned hole 20 drilled in the skin. A stud 21 is attached to and projects from the leg 16 and has a screw threaded end portion 22. The stud 21 passes through the three aligned holes and a nut 23 is screwed onto the threaded portion 22 to x the leg into position. The nut 23 and the upper pressing 17 are put in position through the appropriate cut-out inthe upper skin of the seat base.

The legs are arranged to be of such a height that the upper skins of the seat bases are horizontal and the front edges 25 of the seat bases are vertical.

The two chairs are located so that the front edges 25 of the seat bases lie in face to face relation and each front 25 is provided with two ribs 26 and two recesses 27. The ribs and recesses are arranged so that when the edges 25 lie beside one another the ribs and recesses engage to prevent lateral movement of the chairs in a plane parallel to the backs 13. The chairs are attached together in this position by means of four straps 28, two on each side of the chairs.

The straps are shown in more detail in FIGURES 4 and 5 and each comprise a body 30 of resilient plastics material having at one hand a tab 31. There are two holes 32 and 33 extending through the body 30 and two moulded studs 34 pass through the holes. Each stud comprises a head 35 and a shank 36 provided with longitudinal ribs 37. As shown in FIGURE 4 the strap is attached to the skin 38 of one of the chairs by means of the shanks of the studs passing through holes 39 in the skin and the ribs 37 engaging behind the skin.

In use of the straps the stud nearer the tab 31 is pulled out from the skin to release the portion while the other stud is left in position. In this way the straps are not lost or mislaid.

The two chairs are also held together by means of two side members 40 and 41 for the cot. Each side member is of slatted formation with upper and lower members 42 and 43 respectively. Each end of the upper member 42 is attached to a chair back as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The chair back is formed with a recess 44 having a hole 45 in the bottom of the recess and attached to the member 42 there is a spigot 46 attached to a holder 47.

At the lower end of each back there is also a second recess 45 into which the lower member 43 fits. The lower member extends beyond the end slat of the side member 40 or 41 and the side member is retained in the position shown in FIGURE l with the spigots 46 on the upper member 42 engaged in the holes 45 by means of two further straps 49. Each strap 49 has a stud 50 which is secured within a hole in the skin of the back and a stud 51 which passes through the skin of the back into the recess 45 to engage above the lower member 43 beyond the end vertical Slat. To enable the side member to be withdrawn by vertical upward movement the stud 51 is removed from within the recess 45 and out of engagement with the lower member 43 by pulling on the tab 31 of the strap.

When the cot is being used by a child, a mattress is placed on the base of the cot which is formed by the seat bases of the chairs. The mattress may conveniently be formed from seat cushions for the chairs.

When it is desired to use the cot as two chairs (c g., when a child has become too old to use the cot) the two side members 40 and 41 are removed and the two chairs are separated by removing the straps 28. In order that the chairs may have a neat appearance, the studs 34 may be removed from the straps 28 and 49 and replaced in the holes in the skin without the straps, thus blocking off the holes.

When the chairs are used as such it may be desirable to have cushions also for the backs of chairs.

The type of materials forming the furniture above is not critical. The furniture components can be made of any suitable materials including wood, metal, plastic and the like.

Although a childs cot or crib is discussed above, it will be recognized that adults furniture and other embodiments of the invention are contemplated. For eX- ample, two chair bodies placed together as above and having one side member extending between the backs of the chair bodies can form a couch or small sofa. Appropriate padding can be added. Moreover, more than two chairs can be placed together with suitable side members to form an article of furniture, e.g., a cot or a couch. In such arrangement, the middle chair or chairs need have no backs or can be turned so that their backs are in an unobstrusive position, i.e., form, or are proximate, part of the side walls of the composite furniture article. Each component chair will have a plurality of legs, generally two, three or four or more if desired.

What is claimed is:

1. A convertible article of furniture comprising, two

chair bodies having seats or seat bases and backs, said chair bodies positioned to face one another with the backs remote from one another and the fronts of the seats adjacent one another and two side members extending between the backs and removably mounted therein to form sides for a convertible cot.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein each chair body has 4 legs.

3. The article of claim 1 wherein a mattress is added thereto.

4. The article of claim 3 wherein said mattress is formed of 2 abutting chair cushions. f

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 765,636 7/ 1904 Ruehs 297-245 1,787,245 12/1930 Graham et al. 297-245 1,825,055 9/ 1931 De Bretteville 297-233 1,862,383 6/1932 Mayotte 5-100 2,213,633 9/1940 Kern 297-233 2,255,791 9/ 1941 Klopfer et al. 5-93 2,537,903 1/1951 Markowitz 297-8 2,969,830 1/1961 Thompson 297-233 3,093,838 6/1963 Beasley 5-100 FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

